Hello everyone,
Sorry I took such a long break from blogging, but I am back now and ready to share more information on the pit bull breed. I currently have not found enough information on the Rhode Island breed banning issue yet, but I am working on it. It looks like they ban breed discrimination at a state level, but some towns have either ignored that ruling or found a way to get around it within legal parameters. I will keep you informed on that.

However, I did want to discuss a book that I have been reading through in my research. It is I’m A Good Dog: Pit Bulls, America’s Most Beautiful (and Misunderstood) Pet by Ken Foster.

Sorry I took a tiny break from blogging, but now I am back in gear here today. I just did a phone interview with Tere Morris from Pibbles and More Animal Rescue on 4/3/2014, and received tons of great information. I am going to try to do some more reading in the next couple of days, and have some more great interviews up for you soon! We shall see how it goes. The following will be an overview of what Teri and I talked about.

Hello everyone,
I just had a great talk with Melissa Loos online, and she is the president of the Bella Reed Pit Bull Rescue of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Even though Bella Reed works strictly out of the Philadelphia and New Jersey area, they have networked with pit bull rescuers and advocates worldwide. The following will be an overview of what we talked about.

Hello everyone,
I was trying to catch up on many of my actual assignment posts, but I feel that I am in a place where I can go back to posting about other topics that are also important to the pittie world. I have wanted to talk about how many celebrities advocate for bully dogs, so here are a few of the notable ones:

Hello everyone,
I now have to give you my reflection on how I think my first in person interview went. It was really successful. I got tons of really valuable information, made a new friend, and made some contacts for some future online interviews. Like I said before, Stephanie has put me in contact with the Princess Buttercup Foundation and Bella Reed Pit Bull Rescue. I contacted both organizations and asked them some questions, and that information should be up soon! Thanks to everyone again that has helped me with this project!

Hello everyone,
I finally sat down to follow-up on my prepping post for my first in person interview with Stephanie Flaemig to talk about her two pit bulls, Max (adopted in April 2013) and Ruby (adopted in April 2011). After her Doberman, Donnie, passed away, Stephanie still had a calling to adopt and take care of dog breeds that are being misrepresented. This is what led to the adoption of her two pitties. Stephanie said she was looking for rescue groups that had the same values and feelings that she did for these dog breeds. She rescued Ruby from the Princess Buttercup Foundation. This rescue group is run by a lady by the name of Valerie Paster. She rescued a pittie from a shelter named Princess Buttercup, and the inspiration for the group was born. I was hoping to do a follow-up post on this organization in the future. Thanks for the great idea Stephanie!

Yesterday, 3/27/2014, I had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Stephen Euler of Blackwood Animal Hospital as part of one of my Lookings for this semester. In his career at the Blackwood practice, he has had experience with treating more than 400 pit bulls and pit bull mixes, like my Finn. Many patients at the Blackwood office have been taking their pets to his Blackwood practice for well over ten years. I wanted to talk about BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) through the eyes of someone who works with these animals from a medical standpoint, to get a feel for how the veterinary community views this issue overall. When asked how he felt about BSL, Dr. Euler said that he does not recommend it, and temperament should be evaluated on a case by case basis. Temperament should be determined per animal, and not per breed, he said. Dr. Euler supports the same findings that were listed by the American Veterinary Medical Association concerning breed bans/BSL.

Like I said, this is being done a little backwards due to scheduling, but I wanted to write my prep post about my in person interview with Stephanie Flaemig, who was also gracious enough to talk to me about her pit bulls, Max and Ruby. I interviewed her on 3/25/2014 at the Washington Twp. Starbucks, which is at the intersection of Greentree and Egg Harbor Roads.

The following is a transcription of my email conversation with Nicole Nevill about her dog, Nala. Conversation was from March 23rd through the 27th. Please enjoy, and thanks to Nicole for talking about her pittie!